 Man, all right, so we're starting a new series. We're gonna focus here this evening in Luke chapter two. Of course, the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus in Luke chapter two. And what we're gonna focus on this evening, well, first of all, the series is gonna be, we're gonna go through some topics about the Christmas story and just talk about the actual biblical details of these topics, these subjects of the Christmas story in this series. Clear up a lot of maybe pop culture things that have been thrown into the Christmas story through whether it be cartoons or stories or fiction or whatever it is, a lot of secular influences have unfortunately been put into the story of Christmas. So we're just gonna step through a few topics about the Christmas story and shore up what the Bible actually says and what that means for us. And this evening, the topic that we're gonna talk about is gonna be in Luke chapter two and it's the topic that is the shepherds in the Christmas story. So we're gonna talk about the shepherds this evening. I like, we're starting with the shepherds because I used to be a shepherd. I used to raise sheep. So the shepherd's not that that really has anything to do with the story, but the shepherds this evening are going to be the topic of our first sermon in this series. So look down at Luke chapter two in verse number eight. So we see that Jesus has been born in Luke chapter two. Of course, the savior of the world has finally come to earth. In Luke chapter two, look down at verse number eight and we see the introduction of the shepherds in the Christmas story. And they were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. So the first thing I wanna point out here, so what I wanna do is I just wanna point out a lot of details about the shepherds in the Bible and just point out some details that the Bible says that maybe we've kind of got some different ideas in our heads over the years. But the first thing I wanna point out is that the shepherds were close to Jesus. They were close to, they were in the same country, the Bible says, they were abiding in a field in the same country. So they were very close to the birthplace of Jesus. So that's different from other people that we will see in the Bible that come to visit Jesus at a later time, okay? So they were close. They were, what would you say? They were local to the situation here. Look at verse number nine. And then, so you have these shepherds, they're watching their sheep at night. And you know, here, I mean, you're watching the sheep at night by the way, because whenever sheep are killed by anything, it's always at night. You know, you always wake up in the morning and then they're dead. Something killed them in the night. So these guys are watching over their flocks in the fields. They're literally out in the fields with the sheep in the evening, okay? Now I had dogs that did that. They would be out in the fields with the sheep. We also had a llama that was out in the, just lived with the sheep. You say a llama. Yeah, llamas protect sheep. Did you know that? I mean, a llama, we had this llama. This isn't part of the Christmas story, okay? But we had a llama and her name was Rose and she was just the nicest llama in the world. But here's the thing about llamas. Llamas hate dogs. Llamas are just, they just naturally have an instinct to hate canines. So we had a problem with coyotes, coyotes, I guess they would say, in California. And the llama, she thought she was a sheep. You say you only get one llama. So the llamas don't know that they're different. They just live with the sheep. They think they're a sheep, but they hate dogs and they're huge and they have these big hooks for, what do you want, for hooves. And they're really good at defending. They literally get up and fight a dog, okay? So we had animals that lived out with the sheep and protected the sheep at night. But these guys were literally out in the field at night when this happened, okay? So they're out there, they're protecting the sheep, they're being good shepherds. So they're close, they're local, they're out with the sheep. Look at verse nine. And then this happens. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. So look, I mean, the glory of the Lord, we saw this from the darkness series, but look, there was some light involved here. There was definitely something that they could see. This was quite a scene and it got their attention. Verse 10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord. So here the angel, go back to verse number four. Here the angel tells them where Jesus is. He tells them where the savior is located. Look at verse four. The Bible says, And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David. So Joseph was from Nazareth. He came out of Nazareth and he went to Bethlehem. He went to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. So that's how we know that the city of David they're talking about here is actually Bethlehem. So why is that important? Well, it's important because in the Old Testament, the city of David is referenced like 40 some times and it's always talking about Jerusalem. Turn to second Samuel chapter five. So we see the city of David in the Old Testament is a different place than what the city of David is called in the New Testament. But they clear it up for us in verse number four where they say unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house of the lineage of David. And we'll see why that's important in a little bit as well. So the Old Testament refers to Jerusalem. Look at second Samuel chapter five in verse number six. The Bible says, and the king and his men went to Jerusalem under the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land which spake unto David saying, except thou cannot take away the blind and the lame and shall not come hither, thinking David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion the same is the city of David. So I mean this, it's called the city of David, David's city in the Old Testament because it was the capital of David's kingdom. But it's called the city of David to the angel for a different reason and we'll see why in a little bit. In the New Testament, turn to first Samuel chapter 16. In the New Testament, it's always referring to Bethlehem which is where David was born. And that is important in the Christmas story and in the story of Jesus and Jesus being born there because Jesus was from where? Jesus was from the line of David. So Jesus was the everlasting king that fulfills the promise of God to David that his king would reign forever. And in first Samuel chapter 16, look at verse number one. This is when Samuel is gonna go anoint a new king after Saul has lost the kingdom and the Lord said unto Samuel, how long will thou mourn for Saul? Seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. We've talked about this in the last few weeks. Fill thine horn with oil and go and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I've provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, take an heifer with thee and say I am come to sacrifice to the Lord and call Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show thee what thou shalt do and thou shalt anoint unto me him who I name unto thee. And Samuel did that which the Lord spake and came to Bethlehem and the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, comeest thou peacefully? So we see here that Bethlehem, so the city of David in the Old Testament is many times talking about just David's city that he ruled from, but David was truly from, his family was from, he was born in Bethlehem. Okay, now look, there's not a lot of coincidences in the Bible. All right, so when you see connections like this, there's always a reason for it. Turn to Micah chapter five. Now look, back to the story, they knew who this was. They knew who this was. The people in Israel, they knew that there was a Messiah coming. Think about it this way, compare it this way. Think about it like a nation and I know it's gonna be hard for you to compare, but just pretend like our nation just knew what the Bible said. You know, maybe not everybody believed the Bible or maybe not everybody had the right gospel, but just imagine a nation where everyone just had a general knowledge of the Bible. We used to have that, we don't have that anymore. Okay, I mean, the Bible used to be taught in schools, the Bible used to be just kind of common knowledge. Kids would learn to read from using the Bible. There used to be a general knowledge, I'm talking like 100 plus years ago in this country, but there used to be a general knowledge of the Bible. That's what existed in Israel. Everybody in Israel, even the shepherds, they knew that there was a Messiah coming. And not only did they know that there was a Messiah coming, but they knew that he would be born in Bethlehem. You say how? Turn to Micah chapter five, are you there? Look at verse number two. Because it was a prophecy in the Old Testament that the Messiah, the Christ would come from Bethlehem. And it makes sense since David was from Bethlehem. It kind of bring, think of it this way, it just brings the prophecy of David's kingdom lasting forever. It kind of brings it back home. You think it kind of brings it full circle. Look at verse two of Micah chapter five. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of these shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. Now who else could that be? Who is from everlasting? There's only, look, there's only one person in the history of the entire world that could fit that description. And that is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Nobody else could claim to be the Messiah because nobody else fits that description. I mean, it's just one more prophecy, but that's a big one that, you know, he's gonna come from Bethlehem. So it can't just be any person that's from Bethlehem. It has to be the person that's from everlasting. And the only person, look, there's no other even fake false prophets in the world that even claim to be from everlasting. I mean, Jesus was, he always existed. He was never created. So the angel is telling them, look, he's telling them all these things that they already know, but the angel is telling them, hey, it's happened, it's happened, it's here. All these things this angel is telling them, these things are fulfilled is what the angel is telling these shepherds. And they're saying, and the angel is saying, go see is what he's saying. Turn to Matthew chapter 16. Turn to Matthew chapter 16. Now there's a stupid idea out there that I've heard several times over the last many, many years of this idea that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. But the shepherds clearly knew, I'm showing you that they clearly knew these prophecies of the Messiah, that there was a Messiah coming, first of all, that there was a Christ, he was to be from everlasting, he was gonna be the Son of God. They knew all these details. They knew all these details of what was coming and they even knew down to the details of where he would be from. But turn to Matthew chapter 16. And even when Jesus was preaching, there was plenty of people that knew who he was, that knew exactly who he was. The idea that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah is an especially stupid one. Look at Matthew 16 and verse number 15. So here Jesus is talking to the disciples and he's saying to them, he literally says to Peter, he says, he saith unto them, but whom ye say that I am? Because he asked Peter, he says, hey, who does everybody say that I am? You know, and people are like, well, some think you're this, some think you're the Christ, some think you're this, some think you're John the Baptist, some think you're Elijah. But look, he says unto them, but whom do ye say? He's like, who do you think that I am? Is what he says to Peter. And Simon Peter answered and said, now look, these next two verses, I mean, I don't know how much clearer you could get than this. And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. So he clears it up right there saying, you're the Christ, and that means you're the son of the living God. Okay, and Jesus said to them, okay, what? Yeah, whoa, whoa, whoa. Now look what he says. He says, and Jesus answered and said unto them, blessed art thou, Simon, Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Jesus says to him, he's like, the only reason you know the truth is because the God the Father has revealed it to you. So Jesus right there, he admits that he's the Christ, the son of the living God. Go back to verse number 12 of Luke chapter two. And now, now the angel gives more detail, and this is really where we can infer that the angel is telling them to go find the child, to go and visit Jesus. Look at verse number 12, and this shall be a sign unto you. He shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. So they're giving a little detail about where to find the child. Look, there's probably not a lot of babies in barns. So the angel's telling them, go look for the child. It's in Bethlehem, you already knew that, but it's gonna be lying in a manger in a barn, basically is what the angel tells them. In verse 13, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, verse 14, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will towards men. So look, there was not just one angel here. That's another thing, there was not just one angel. There was not just two angels. So a multitude means a large number. So there was a large number of the heavenly host. Many, many angels showed up here and were praising God and saying glory to God on the highest and on earth peace, good will towards men. So just imagine this scene that these guys were seeing. I mean, it's quite something that they're witnessing. Look at verse 15. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven that the shepherd said unto one another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us. Verse 16, don't miss this. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, so first of all in verse number 16, whatever happened they immediately moved on this situation. They immediately left where they were at and they went and they found Jesus. With haste means they went quickly. They found him right away. They were not far away. Okay, they were not far away. They were local. They saw the one angel talk to them. They saw the multitude of angels, the large number of angels and they got up and they went right away. Okay, and look at verse 17. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad. Just underline that in your Bible right there. They made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. So what was the saying that was told them? The saying that was told them was that this is the Savior, that this is the Christ. Okay, look at verse 21. So they went, well first of all go back to verse 16. They made known abroad, so what did they do? The first thing that they did was they went and they told everybody. They went and they told everybody don't miss that point. Verse 21, in the shepherd's return, I'll just read verse 20, the shepherd's return glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. And when the eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus and was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. So this is another point that is proved in verse number 21 that the shepherds, unlike other people, so you see nativity scenes out there, right? Nativity scenes are confusing because the shepherds were the only ones that were there right away. They were there right away. And we know that from verse 21 where it says they were there before Jesus was even circumcised on the eighth day. So they were there literally after the immediate birth of Christ, they were there right away. And they were the only ones that were there right away. So when you see these manger scenes everywhere in people's yards and all this kind of stuff, look, it's not where there's just tons of people. First of all, we don't know how many shepherds there were. We know that there were more than one because there were shepherds, there was probably several, but they were the only ones that were there that visited and when they saw what the angel told them the first thing that they did was they went and they told everybody about it. Okay, so I think that there was probably more than two. There was probably several because what was the point? It was kind of like so they could get the word out. Okay, so they could go out and they could tell you. So it makes sense that they were there right away. It makes sense that they were there to get that word out, to get this knowledge out. And look, this knowledge later on we'll find out in further sermons and further studies into the Christmas story in this series, but this knowledge getting out later on causes trouble. It causes trouble, but there's no indication that they were there with any other people. It was the shepherds first. So the nativity scenes with all the kings and the wise men and all this stuff around the manger scene and all this, it's not true. It was just the shepherds. It was just the shepherds that were there. The cartoons with the talking donkey and the camel that were there, it's not real. It was just the shepherds. Okay, so what can we learn? So you say, this is just a few verses. These guys were told to go and see Jesus. What can we learn from that? Well, the first thing I want to point out and I've kind of given it away is why the shepherds? Why this story in the Bible? Why do we have these shepherds? I mean they're men of, I mean they're shepherds, they're men of average status. They're men, you know, regular people. And they're told to go see Jesus. Turn to Matthew chapter 10. Turn to Matthew chapter 10. You know, we see this pattern. This is a pattern, the pattern that starts out with Jesus at rate at his birth. I want to show you that this pattern starts out at the birth of Christ and this pattern has not ended today. And I want to explain that to you and look at Matthew chapter 10. We see this pattern repeat itself again in Matthew chapter 10. Look at verse number five. These 12, Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any cities of the Samaritans entry ye not but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and as you go preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What is he telling the disciples here? He's telling the disciples, he's saying, hey, go tell everybody that I'm here. Go tell everybody that the Messiah's here. Go tell everybody in Israel that Christ is here now. You've been waiting for this Messiah. You've been waiting for this person from the lineage of David. Go tell everybody that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Tell them that I'm here. That's exactly what the shepherds were supposed to do. They were supposed to, they were commanded to go see Jesus and then they went and they made it known. That's why I think there was probably more than two. There's probably a bunch of these guys because the idea was to get the word out. There was no social media. There was no Facebook. There was no Twitter. There was none of this stuff. It was just, it was word of mouth. That's how they got things out. I mean, maybe we should operate that way today. Maybe we get more truth out there. But look, I mean, thank God that there wasn't any of this stuff back then. I'm not gonna go off on that. But look, as God needed the shepherds to get the word out, as God, as Jesus used the disciples to get the word out, guess what? We're to do the same today. So that same model applies to us today. We're to get the word out. And that's why we go out soul winning. It's the same exact model. So look, we can identify personally with the shepherds because we have the same mission as the shepherds. You say the shepherds, they never really even thought about them. But we have the exact same mission as them to get the word out, to go tell people about the Messiah, to tell people about Jesus, to tell people about what that means for their life. That's us. So we have the same mission. What else can we learn from them? Here's something else, turn back to verse number eight of Luke chapter two. Turn back to verse number eight of Luke chapter two. Here's something else that we can learn from the, so we see that their main mission is to get the word out, was to go and see the Messiah and go out and tell everybody, make it known to everybody, look at verse eight. And there were in the same country, the shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. So when it comes to Christ and following him, there won't find, you won't find anything in the Bible that says this. There's the second point, they left everything. They left everything to go do what they were supposed to do. You won't find anything in the Bible that says, hey, go serve Jesus unless you have this going on. You won't find anything like that. Turn to Luke chapter 14. As a matter of fact, the Bible is extreme in the opposite direction. And I'm gonna show you how extreme it is in the opposite direction. Turn to Luke chapter 14. When it comes to following Christ and doing what we're supposed to do, the Bible says everything is to be forsaken, everything. Look at Luke 14 and verse 16. Then he said unto him, a certain man made a great supper and bade many. And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that we're bid and come, for all things are now ready. And they with all, with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of good ground and I must needs go and see it. I pray thee have me excused. I love this parable because it gives so many specific examples of excuses that people use to not serve the Lord or not come to the supper, not do what they're supposed to do. And they all made excuse. The first one was land. And another said, verse 19, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to prove them and I pray, pray thee have me excused. The second one was work. And another said, I've married a wife and therefore cannot come, family. So that servant came and showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor, the maimed and the halt and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou commanded and there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. And there went a great multitudes with him and he turned and said unto them, if any man come to me and hate not his father and his mother and his wife and his children and brethren and sisters, there's the family again. Yay, and his own life also. Now we get even more extreme now. So now we have land. We have work. We have family and even your own life isn't even an excuse. Like this is pretty extreme for Sunday night. But this is what the Bible says. This is what the Bible says. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you intending to build a tower, sit it down not first and count at the cost? Whether you have sufficient to build it. Look at verse 33. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakeeth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Look, nobody understands this. Nobody understands this. I don't care how many times you've read it. Nobody, I mean, that's why many didn't follow him. When you read the gospels, that's why many people turned away. Many people came to him and they're like, hey, we want to follow you. He's like, are you sure? And he lists all these things? They're like, yeah, we're good. Look, it's the same today. It's no different. There's plenty of reasons people have. Turn to Luke chapter nine. Turn to Luke chapter nine. Turn to Luke chapter nine, look at verse 57. I think this is just another example. And it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whither, soever thou go. Now this is a literal story. Somebody literally coming up to Jesus and saying, I'll follow you anywhere. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man have not where to lay his head. He said, I don't even have a place to sleep. You sure? And he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go home and bury my father, to go bury my father. And Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead. That's a harsh one. But Jesus said it. That's why I like that Jesus said it. There's really no way to misinterpret that. I mean, this guy's like, let me go home and go to my dad's funeral or whatever. And he's like, let the dead bury the dead. He's like, it's time to go forward in your life and worry about the living. But go thou and preach the kingdom of God. Another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go. I mean, doesn't that make sense, by the way? You think it's emotionally cold, but doesn't that make sense? I mean, you have somebody who has no chance of being saved and there's all these, I mean, this is Jesus' perspective. Jesus' perspective is you have somebody who can't get saved because he's dead or near death or whatever that meant. And then you have all these people that Jesus sees because he's looking at it from the eyes of God. I mean, just think of the eyes that he's looking at compared to us. He's looking at it from the eyes of God and he's looking at the vast majority of everybody that's in front of him and they're all gonna go to hell. None of them are saved. He's like, what are you doing even thinking about that stuff? He's like, look at all these people that need the gospel preached to them, that need the kingdom of God preached to them. I mean, it makes sense when you think about it through the eyes of God. Verse 61, and another also said, Lord, I'll follow thee, but first let me go bid them farewell, I mean, that was even a dumber one. He's like, I just wanna go back home and say goodbye to everybody. And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Look, these are lessons that we need to learn. The serious language here that Jesus uses, that's how he looks at us too. Do you not understand that? That's how he looks at us too. When you say, you know, look, that, look this, this is what it takes to follow Jesus. It doesn't mean, it doesn't mean that you'll have nothing in your life. It just means that you have to be willing to forsake it all. And look, very few are. I'm here to report to you tonight, very few are. Now, in comparison to these people, like the shepherds, the disciples, I mean, think about these guys. They literally drop their nets. They're literally fishing with their dad and they literally just drop everything and follow him. I mean, straight way, that means right away. They dropped everything to follow Jesus. You think about the shepherds. They just left the sheep there. They just left them and they went right away. I mean, this is not really required in the environment that we live in today. But there may be things that you have to leave behind if you are going to serve Jesus. Look, and I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, just from personal experience, that if you wanna do something great for the Lord in your life, it's gonna cost you something. You're like, I don't know. I don't see it costing me anything. You're probably not gonna do anything great. You're probably just gonna tow the line. If you wanna do something great, I mean, don't you wanna do something great with your life? I mean, what does that mean? I mean, to the world that means, and I used to think this. I used to think that that meant becoming some big, powerful business owner or some big, powerful person in a company. That's what I used to think that meant. But if you wanna do, look, if you wanna do something great with your life, just think about your life. If you wanna do something great for the Lord that saved you with your life, it's gonna cost you something. And you have to be willing. I mean, it's gonna cost you something in the area of friends, of family. Well, friends doesn't really even apply. Forget that. I misspoke there, because you're gonna have other friends, real friends. But look, it's gonna cost you in the area of family, of possessions, of land. But compared to, I mean, compared to the extremes that we see in Jesus' time, I don't really see anyone that's quite there. You know, even up to the point of your life. I mean, who knows? That could happen to us as well. That could, I mean, I'm not gonna make any predictions after this year on what could possibly happen in the coming years. But look, here's the way you have to handle this. If you say, yes, I do wanna do something great with my life, but you have to compartmentalize the things that are the worldly things around you. You kinda just have to put them in a bucket and just appreciate them while you have them. You have to appreciate them as blessings. And then you just hammer down on this Christian life. And if it costs you something over here, it's like whatever. I mean, look, I like having a nice life. I can have a decent life right now and serve the Lord. I can live in a house right now and serve the Lord. I mean, I'm not suffering right now and I can serve the Lord, but it might not always be that way. And you have to have those things compartmentalized and just be willing to just let it all go. And you know, if that should ever change, you just keep that pedal down on the Christian life and just let God handle it. I mean, there may be a point where those things, those nice things become difficult or impossible, but you just keep that hand on the plow is what you're supposed to do. So here's the last point I wanna make. Turn back at verse number nine of Luke chapter two. Look back at verse number nine of Luke chapter two. Look what the Bible says here. And don't miss this. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shown round about them. And look at the last part and it says, and they were sore afraid. Look, sore afraid means they were extremely afraid. They were scared. Look, they were afraid of these angels that came from heaven. They were terrified. So afraid means like there's a reason that word's in there. They were really scared. Okay, they were, look, they were moved, they were moved to go, at least partially, they were moved to go on fear. And let me tell you something, that's another thing that we can take from the shepherds. There is nothing wrong with being moved in your life by the fear of the Lord. By the literal fear of the Lord. Look, here's the thing. You don't need a Jesus high to go out and do something for the Lord. You don't need an emotional feeling to go out and make changes in your life and do something and push in that Christian direction that you know you should go. But you should be moved by fear of the Lord. You should be moved by that, especially you in this room. Because guess what? You all know what to do. That's the downside of you is you all know what to do. And you should be moved by the fear of the Lord. And look, you know what to do and being moved by the fear of the Lord, there's nothing wrong with that. Look, my wife and I were just talking about this the other night. And we kind of reminisce back every now and then. But look, let me tell you something, like moving from North Dakota to California, there was more to it than a seven minute testimonial video. Than a seven minute testimonial that I gave at the Red Hot Preaching Conference in 2017. You know, there was more to that story than that. I mean, I would love to stand up here and say that I knew the right thing to do and I just did it and I never had any doubts and we just went forward with our Christian life. And I mean, I remember like halfway through the transition of selling everything on the farm and getting rid of equipment and animals and all these different things. I went on, my wife and I would go on a walk and it was on this, you know, it was on the road into the farm and it was like a three quarter of a mile long road out in the middle of nowhere. And we would take this walk every night. And I remember going on this walk and telling my wife, I said to my wife, I was like, you know what, things would be a speed. Cause I mean, I was like, I thought I was going insane for a few weeks there. But I was, I told my wife, I said, you know what, it'd be a lot easier if we didn't know what was true. And I don't think I really meant that, but it was just things are really hard on the worldly side, getting rid of things, making the changes, all those things that Jesus talked about, land, family, work, all those things. And I told my wife is like, as far as all those things went, it'd just be a lot easier. It'd be a lot easier, you know, for the land in my life. It'd be a lot easier for the family in my life. It'd be a lot easier for the career in my life if I just didn't know the truth. If I never find, I mean, of course I don't mean that, but you see what I'm saying is just that, I mean, I would like to say that I just went forward and just, I mean, obviously we kept doing the things that we needed to do when we finished that task, but it was not easy. It was not easy. My wife said, and my wife said, she said this back then, and she said it two nights ago, and I hadn't heard her say it for several years, but she said, she said, you know what? I was afraid of what God would do if we didn't go. And she was, and I was too. We were moved by the fear of God. Look, you all will never know. You all will never know the details of that story. After I gave that testimony in 2017, and you all will never know because I'll never tell you all the details. That's why you'll never know. But after I gave that testimony in 2017, I had half a dozen or more people come up to me and tell me why they couldn't do this. They wanted to do the same thing, but they couldn't because of X, Y, and Z. What a joke. What a joke. After everything that I had just recently gone through, and they came up, and I mean, everything, and it was the exact same, it's funny. It's funny because it's the exact same things that the Bible said specifically. Those were the same issues that I had. I can't believe that I built a career like this. And I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna start over. I can't believe, look at all the land. It could all be mine. Look at all, look at everything. Look at the business that I built with these hands, and I sat on the hill one night, and I looked down at everything I built. I went through all those three things. But I just, it was the fear of the Lord. It was the fear of the Lord. Craziest and best thing I've ever done. But I'm not gonna stand up here and say that, oh, we just, I made a decision, I just did it. No, because look, it's hard to do those things. It's hard to get over those things. That's why Jesus brought it up. That's why Jesus brought it up again and again and again. Look, I get it. It's tough, it's why you need to hear it again and again and again. And look, I get it. I get it when all those people came up to me and I get it, not everyone's gonna do what they're supposed to do. Not everyone's gonna do what they're supposed to do, but you'll never do anything great. If you wanna do the greatest thing that God could ever have for you in your life, you will do what it takes. That's right. Yes, you will do what it takes because here's the funny thing. It's not that you don't know what you're supposed to do. It's that you won't do it. But look, I mean, I understand, I don't get upset at people that I see that should be doing something that I'm getting okay with it. I mean, I don't like it, but I'm not gonna let, you know, as I stand up and I preach certain things and I see certain people just not listen to certain preaching, I'm not gonna let it drive me insane. I'm gonna tell you the truth. If you wanna know more, you can ask me, but look, that wasn't who the shepherds were. The shepherds went and they dropped everything and they were afraid of God and they went. It's a simple but thorough story. They did what they were supposed to do. You're not gonna see that. You're not gonna see this fear of God explained in some stupid Sunday school class on Jesus and the Christmas story. You're not gonna see that they were terrified, that they were so afraid of the angels and they feared the Lord. Like fear like they're afraid of the Lord. You're not gonna see that in the Little Shepherd Boy book or the donkey that carried Mary. Or the, I mean, what other made up garbage is out there about the shepherds? Look, they were moved by fear and they moved. That's the story and God used them to tell them to tell the world to make it known, the Bible says, about Jesus, about the Savior. It's the exact same model that we are to do today. So thus, we must understand that if we want to be used by God in the, I mean, look, if we wanna be this tool that God can use in the maximum efficiency, we must be able to move like they moved. To do what it takes like they did what it takes. And like the disciples did what it takes. No matter what, it's the same model, folks. It applies directly to us, directly. They were there to get the word out. They were there to tell the word, to get the word of mouth spreading about the best thing that's ever happened. I mean, think about and think about these men and this task that they had and how important it was. The most significant event for mankind in the history of the world, they were used to tell the message, these shepherds. So are we. It's the same. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.